England: England and PISA-The long view

Abstract

This chapter does not drill down in the minutiae of the PISA results for England. For that, readers can go to the NFER's excellent report (Sizmur in Achievement of 15-year-olds in England: PISA 2018 Results DFE-RR961 2019) which comprises the UK Government's commentary on the PISA outcomes. Rather, it tries to do something unique-it places the PISA results in the context of policy changes which may be associated with PISA outcomes, and seeks to explain the factors which determine the trends present in the PISA data. It looks briefly at the other administrations of the UK (Scotland and Wales in particular), but highlights the vital differences between those administrations. I maintain that 'The UK' cannot be treated as a unitary system.